This is an article by[ABC Oz's] global affairs editor John Lyons. In my opinion, he is always worth following because he is highly knowledgeable and analytical.

The Trump assassination attempt drives a line through the fabric of US democracy — fabric which was already frayed

"A bitterly divided United States has just become dangerously divided.

"This is a time for anyone with influence in the US to exercise their power to calm a shaken nation — rather than to stoke divisions and fears.

"The assassination attempt on Donald Trump has driven a new and extremely disturbing fault line straight through the fabric of American democracy — a fabric which was already fraying.

"The fragility of American stability and democracy is demonstrated by contemplating that had the shooter in Pennsylvania succeeded in killing Trump, would it have unleashed civil unrest in the US?

"Had one bullet been a few centimetres closer to Trump's brain — rather than grazed his ear — it could have changed US history and may have sent the US into a spiral of chaos and possibly violence in the streets."

"Stress on an already strained democracy

"American democracy and good governance was already under pressure.

"Joe Biden — a frail, incumbent president who struggles to get through a one hour news conference without misspeaking the name of a world leader or his own vice president — was fighting in the polls beside Trump, a convicted felon who has promised the powerful gun lobby, the National Rifle Association, that should he win in November he will not curtail the easy access Americans have to guns. This is surely an uncomfortable irony, given Trump was almost killed by a gun."

....

"Shortly after the shooting presidential historian Tim Naftali said the US was now in "a fragile moment" and that this was a time for careful words by opinion makers and influencers.

"He told CNN this was a time for those who shaped opinion to "dial down" rhetoric and not a time for "poison and hatred".

"'This is a time to stop hating each other', he said.

"And those whose views fit the extremes of US politics need to realise that this is deadly serious. Trump may have escaped the attempt on his life but bullets can kill, and did take the life of one man who attended the rally in Pennsylvania. The shooter was also killed.

"And in a country awash with guns, words can foment hatred, encouraging unhinged people to take to violence."